SMM

Each attendee of the 2015 National Sustainable Materials Management Summit was invited to complete a one-page white paper that provided background on what they do in Sustainable Materials Management (SMM), as well as their unique insight into their suggested policy direction for SMM. View the white paper format, individual white papers, and the SMM Guide and Summary of White Papers document.

In preparation for the 2015 National Sustainable Materials Management Summit, NRC conducted four webinars to assist our members in better understanding the definition and applications for SMM in their own programs and communities. These informational webinars are designed to help members prepare for active participation in the Summit. Members are encouraged to attend both, as together they are designed to help build knowledge and expertise in SMM in advance of the Summit. View recordings of these webinars and the presenter’s slide decks.

SMM Summit
On May 12 – 13, 2015, the National Recycling Coalition, in partnership with the Syracuse University Center for Sustainable Community Solution and the University of Maryland Environmental Finance Center, hosted a one and a half day Sustainable Materials Management Summit focused on the sustainable management of discarded materials in the United States at the University of Maryland, College Park. View the news release, detailed program, speaker biographies, attendees, and advisory committee.

SMM Roundtable
On September 30, 2015, the National Recycling Coalition held a follow-up event to the National Sustainable Materials Management Summit at the Resource Recycling Conference. At this event, the “NRC Roundtable on How ROs and Communities Can Move to SMM,” NRC highlighted its National Sustainable Materials Management Action Plan and the USEPA SMM Strategic Plan. Discussion focused on how NRC can support Recycling Organizations and communities to adopt and implement SMM policies and programs. View the agenda, final draft of the strategy document, and a summary of the event.

SMM Strategy
The National Recycling Coalition’s “Recyclers+ Sustainable Materials Management Strategy” was approved by the NRC Board on September 29, 2015 and will be used as an internal working plan while NRC creates the “National Recyclers+ SMM Action Plan.” View the whole strategy document here.

The National Recycling Coalition’s efforts and activities during the first 24 months while writing a comprehensive “National Recyclers+ SMM Action Plan” will include various tasks. These tasks are recommended at this time based on the fact that volunteer leaders of the NRC Board, members, and stakeholders have come forward to lead and assist in implementing these tasks. These will be coordinated by the NRC SMM Committee on a volunteer basis, supported by existing NRC staff and a new SMM Program Manager as directed by the NRC Board and NRC President. View a list of on-going tasks and the leads for each of these tasks.

SMM Dialogs
The National Recycling Coalition has designed Sustainable Materials Management (SMM) Dialogs around the Country. Each workshop has an expert line-up of presenters, followed by a discussion among attendees about how to take SMM principles and turn them into action.